 What To Do In San Antonio, Texas. This city of just over a million people is just the right distance from most of the state's population centers to feel like a real journey, and it's got just the right number of attractions to last two or three days at an easy pace. Plus, it's refreshingly different from almost every other place in Texas, a kind of Spanish colonial theme park with good restaurants.
San Antonio seems to swell on the weekends, at least in its tourist precincts. While a lot of the city's visitors come for the endless procession of conventions. There people wearing name tags 365 days a year down on the Riverwalk while the local weekenders make San Antonio bulge.
For decades, San Antonio's energy has been dedicated to making certain that San Antonio gets discovered, and as a result the city is now a favorite tourist and convention destination. Fiesta is a San Antonio celebration in which schools close and city employees get the day off for the Battle of Flowers parade. Local officials say that more than 3.5 million people participate, from the volunteers who stage events to the tourists who attend the parades. That is far different from the first Battle of Flowers Parade in 1891, when a women's charitable organization rode past the Alamo in horse-drawn carriages. There is no shortage of fake royalty as various private organizations crown various monarchs, including King Antonio, who presides over the River Parade, and El Rey Feo, the Ugly King, at the Fiesta Flambeau.
 The centerpiece of San Antonio remains the Alamo, the old stone mission at 300 Alamo Plaza that is the lodestone of Texas history. In 1836 Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie and 187 other defenders died at the hands of Santa Anna and the Mexican Army.
But their deaths inspired the famous battle cry that Texas shouted in defeating Santa Anna's army later at the Battle of San Jacinto. Today, with 2.5 million visitors a year, the Alamo is the state's top tourist attraction. Inside are exhibits on the Bowie knife; artifacts from a recent archaeological dig relating to the retreat of Santa Anna's army back to Mexico; and pieces commemorating William Barret Travis, the garrison's doomed commander. Open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30. Admission is free. Information: (210) 225-1391, www.thealamo.org
The King William Historic District in San Antonio, Texas, a residential area on the San Antonio River about a mile from the Alamo, is filled with lovely restored mansions and houses made of local limestone and caliche blocks. The earliest houses date from 1850, and the styles range from neo-Classical to Greek Revival to Italianate to gingerbread Victorian. During Fiesta, the King William Fair, April 28, offers a neighborhood open house with a funky street parade, food booths, and arts and crafts. The most prominent houses are on King William Street and Madison Street. |
